| A lot of things can lead to and the best thing to do to | | | | her hearing. Tests that involve an audiometer usually |
| avoid deafness all together is by preventing it in the | | | | involves a setup wherein the patient sits in a |
| first place. can be a side effect of some disease, | | | | soundproof booth wearing headphones that are linked |
| medication or can be caused by being exposed to | | | | to an audiometer. The audiologist uses the audiometer |
| loud sounds. Hearing impairment can be a disability a | | | | to produce tones at specific frequencies and volume |
| person is born or has grown up with, since the body | | | | to each ear of the subject. |
| sometimes don't form correctly. | | | | Once the person wearing the headphones hears the |
| It is obvious that even small things like a flu or a cold | | | | sound he or she will need to acknowledge it by |
| can affect a person's hearing. There are also some | | | | pressing on a button. More than one sound is tested |
| medication that are known to cause hearing loss in | | | | and a graph is plotted out by the audio specialist. One |
| people as well. Loss of hearing can be caused by | | | | look at the graph plotted out will expose what |
| bumping your head the wrong way or just really | | | | frequencies and volume sound cannot be heard by the |
| hard.can also be the result of being in an environment | | | | subject. |
| where the noise level is off the chart. Noisy people, | | | | Two other tests called the Weber and Rinne tests are |
| loud noises from appliances, office equipments, factory | | | | performed to test for the type of hearing loss a |
| machinery are all samples of noise pollution. This can | | | | person is afflicted with. To determine what hearing loss |
| also be something very rare, like being near an | | | | the person is suffering from, a tuning fork is used by |
| explosion, a gunshot or even a sudden outburst of | | | | the tests. The Weber test is a quick test performed to |
| extremely high decibel sound. | | | | check if hearing loss is indeed present while the Rinne |
| There are possible treatments for hearing loss, but | | | | test will figure out if the patient has conductive or |
| some can only work when the disorder is still in its | | | | sensorineural hearing loss. |
| early stages, so the best way is to detect it first. As a | | | | The tuning fork is first placed in the exact middle of the |
| rule of thumb most health problems are easier to treat | | | | forehead in the Weber test. If the patient has normal |
| today than tomorrow. Hearing tests are performed on | | | | hearing or equal hearing loss, then the sound heard will |
| a person suspected of having hearing problems. | | | | be the same for both ears. Only when a person hears |
| A person who undergoes a hearing test should not be | | | | two different sounds can a person be sure he or she |
| surprised when an audiometer is used to check his or | | | | has hearing loss and asymmetric at that. |